The new advance health directive form - what you need to know and where to from here? 5 April 2023

Topic: 

• The new advance health directive form - What you need to know and where to from here?

The seminar will cover:

An Advance Health Directive (AHD) is a legal document that enables you to make decisions about the treatment you would want (or not want) to receive if you became sick or injured and were incapable of communicating your wishes.

The Advance Care Planning (ACP) project addressed the recommendations related to ACP including revision of the AHD template.

A new package of ACP materials, including the revised AHD template was released in August 2022.

This session will introduce the new AHD form to STEP practitioners.

Dr. Towler will also share insights into:

• Experience and learnings/feedback received from professionals during the first six to eight months after implementation of the revised AHD and suite of ACP resources.
• Community education and awareness raising steps taken to date and steps planned.
• Health professional education to date and planned – is a joint workshop for medical and legal professionals in the offing?
• What steps are being undertaken to develop a dedicated AHD register?
• How can STEP practitioners assist in providing feedback and education?

About the speaker:

• Dr. Towler is the Chief Medical Officer in the Clinical Excellence Division at the WA Department of Health.

He was Clinical Lead for End-of-Life Care with the WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network until September 2022 and has been a Voluntary Assisted Dying provider. He is also the State Medical Director at DonateLifeWA, the Western Australian organ donation agency.

Dr. Towler recently retired from clinical practice as a specialist in intensive care after 32 years, most recently at the Fiona Stanley Hospital but before that, he worked in intensive care at Royal Perth Hospital for nearly 25 years.

He is a fellow of the College of Intensive Care Medicine, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, the Australasian College of Health Service Managers, and the Australian Medical Association.

He is a former President of the AMA in Western Australia and was the WA Chief Medical Officer from 2006 -2012. Dr. Towler has had many senior roles across WA Health. He was a member of the Ministerial Expert Panel on Voluntary Assisted Dying in 2019 and, in the same year, a member of the Clinical Reference Group on the work to produce the Sustainable Health Review Report.